‘A brilliant, aspirational leader’: Former GE CEO Jack Welch dies at 84

Longtime General Electric Co. CEO Jack Welch, who oversaw massive growth at the company over his two decades of leadership, has died at the age of 84.

Welch’s first job at GE (NYSE: GE) was in Massachusetts, as a chemical engineer at a Pittsfield plastics facility.

He became the youngest vice president in GE history in his late 30s and was named CEO and chairman by the age of 45. During his 20-year tenure atop the company, he grew GE’s market capitalization from $14 billion to over $410 billion,…